Daikokuya (Costa Mesa) - Tragic Ramen [Review] w/ Pics

[exilekiss]

(Formatted with Pictures here:
http://exilekiss.blogspot.com/2008/05...

)

Daikokuya Ramen in Los Angeles is a relatively popular Ramen shop around the Little Tokyo area. While its quality has declined, it still remains a busy destination. It's by no means the best Ramen in L.A., but it was decent, so when word got out that Daikokuya was coming to Orange County (Costa Mesa), anticipation started to build. While the Costa Mesa area already has good Ramen in Santouka, perhaps the launch of this new Daikokuya might bring with it a renewed "spark," and that they might open this new branch in the pursuit of excellence, reversing the course that its Little Tokyo branch was charting (and to put up a good grand opening at least, to draw in customers). Unfortunately, the end result seemed to be the complete opposite: Completely mediocre Ramen that would never have survived the first week of its opening, had this been in Tokyo.

Daikokuya Costa Mesa is located within the Marukai Japanese supermarket food court, taking the place of the previous Hawaiian eatery. To its credit, they took the time to decorate the entire facade / store front with a faux, unvarnished, "natural wood board" look. They tacked on some old post-WWII era signage and imagery to bring up some nostalgia (and keeping with their odd / fun items displayed in their L.A. branch).

I arrived at noon, promptly stepped up and ordered their Ramen, and tried their Small Shredded Pork Bowl side order as well. The Ramen came out within 10 minutes, and I sat down to eat. Within the first bite, all dreams of this new Daikokuya delivering quality ramen (and maybe even challenging Santouka in the OC) came crashing down: It was a failure on every level.

First off, the Ramen Noodles: They were overly chewy and on the thick side (versus the much thinner Hakata-style Ramen at Shin Sen Gumi, for example). Then, the Tonkotsu Broth: An extremely salty, nearly inedible "Tonkotsu broth" that was the worst Ramen Broth I've had in years.

At this point, I was hoping to salvage something, anything, from this bowl of tragedy. I took a bite of the Pork Chashu (which on Daikokuya's website, they claim is Kurobuta (Berkshire Pork)): Sadness. The Chashu tasted *old* (as in, leftovers from a few days or more), and it was really chunky and tough. It was only weeks earlier that I had experienced the greatest Chashu EVER to grace a bowl of Ramen at Menya Kissou, and the Chashu at Daikokuya was honestly at the complete opposite of the spectrum. I was stunned.

Finally, the Tamago (Egg): This was probably the best part of the Ramen served here. The Egg was well-seasoned, and to Daikokuya's credit, they *attempted* to try and get a Hanjyukku-style Egg (half-boiled egg that retains a creamy center yolk) that's popular in Tokyo, but like the rest of the Ramen, it fell short. They egg was overcooked from Hanjyukku, and it was still ice-cold (I let it soak in the broth as long as possible and ate it towards the end of the meal and it was still ice-cold).

I switched over to try the mini Shredded Pork Bowl side order to see if that faired any better.

The Shredded Pork Bowl they served turned out to be better than the Ramen, but only slightly better. The Shredded Pork looked similar to the failed Chashu they served, and I tried to tase if it was the same, but they had coated the pork and the rest of the bowl with a massive amount of a dark-brown sauce similar to what usually tops Unagi / Anago Sushi, and they used so much of the sauce that the whole bowl turned into an overly sweet drenched bowl of rice and shredded pork and green onions.

Overall, the new Daikokuya in Costa Mesa, CA, is a huge disappointment. From the utter tragedy that is their Ramen noodles, to the overly salty and otherwise simple, boring Tonkotsu Broth, to their bad Chashu and overly-drenched Shredded Pork Bowl, this is one place to avoid. You would be better served driving an extra ~7 minutes over to Santouka in the Mitsuwa food court, or going to Asa Ramen in the Torrance / Gardena area instead of this place. The most disappointing aspect wasn't even the food itself: It was that in a location 12 hours away (Tokyo), this level of Ramen would've been laughed out of business within a week of opening; the competition and number of good, let alone great Ramen shops is beyond comprehension. Daikokuya is pure disappointment.

*** Rating: 3.9 (out of 10.0) ***

Daikokuya (Costa Mesa branch)
(inside the Marukai food court)
2975 Harbor Blvd., Suite 5
Costa Mesa, CA 92626
Tel: [phone]

[Keizo]

Went today and the soup has slightly improved. But the chashu is still tough and not the melt in your mouth kind you get in LT (I wonder why?). It was still pretty busy so they must be doing ok.

[Vince S]

Appreciate the review!

Actually, I don't even think the original stall in Little Tokyo was that good to begin with. So much hype. When I finally tasted them, I don't get the feeling as if I stepped into Wonka's Chocolate Factory. The feeling just wasn't there....

[Keizo]

It wasn't that bad when I went, but agree that the ramen definitely needs to improve. It sounds like they are working on it because I thought the soup was too bland. Anyway, I hope they get it together and stick around for awhile. The OC ramen scene could use them.

[J.L.]

Very few ramen places "hit it out of the park" during their opening months. A lot of ramen places need to "get their act together" first. The management will mess with the broth, the noodles, etc. until it improves to some sort of plateau which may generate a better experience for its customers.

Case in point: Chabuya on Sawtelle. "Terrible disappointment" was how I described my first visit during their first month. But, on subsequent trips, they got their s*** straight. Now, it's a pretty damn good ramen experience.

I'd be curious to hear what Rameniac has to say about this Daikokuya OC...

[rameniac]

E Eto's observations about ramen-friendly infrastructure are pretty accurate I'd say. Daikokuya, specifically, also has this tendency to suffer from "inmates running the asylum" syndrome, which explains a lot of the inconsistency. The owner these days is surely spreading himself a bit thin, with all the restaurants he's been opening up - Ebisu, Daikokuya OC, Tamon, etc. I know that he tends to delegate a lot of responsiblity to his staff of mostly young Japanese kids; they're all super cool, but as much as I love them, they're probably not the best qualified to run entire restaurants without much oversight. That said, I'll still have to make my way down to the OC and check it out soon!

[kelvlam]

I wonder if rameniac got a chance to taste it yet after almost 4 months :-p

It was a total disappointment for me as well, when I tried the Daikokuya OC. When I ate the noodle, took a bite on the chashu, and slurp in the broth... I was literally ready to scream out WTF. :-(

But that was about half year ago... I shall give it another run.

[rameniac]

eehhh... despite the gas prices these days, i need to make my way down to the OC again... all in the name of the slurp.

btw apparently there's plans for a daikokuya underneath the shin sen gumi yakitori in monterey park lol. hella funny to me at least!

[exilekiss]

Hi rameniac,

See my reply below (to kelvlam). I'd recommend you visit MaRuYu (Keizo / Goramen also reviewed them) before going to the travesty that is Daikokuya Costa Mesa. :(

Thanks for the heads up on the MP branch. I'll pass that along to my SGV Hounds that might've missed this. ;)

[exilekiss]

Hi kelvlam,

I would probably say, sadly, "don't bother." :( I found myself in the area again on an errand, and decided to give them one more shot, but the unbelievable happened:

* It got worse!

Daikokuya's front of the house and back of the house have completely changed (I don't remember any of them from my last visit), and the Ramen broth is downright *insipid*! (>_<) The Chashu is even worse than my last visit, and the Tamago (Egg) was a disaster (again). I literally couldn't finish my Ramen and had to leave, very sad and disappointed.

It tastes absolutely nothing like the Little Tokyo branch.

[ns1]

Unfortunate; I was at the LT branch the other day and their chashu is srsly insane

[trolley]

i think ramen in the US or at least in LA is unchartered territory and there is so much room for improvement. i've had mediocre ramen at all the "best" places in oc and la. i went back to tokyo for short trip a while ago and i popped into a nondescript ramen shop and my bowl of chashu could have taken daikokuya down in a second. now sushi is a different story. b.c of its popularity i think the US has had time improve on it and also cultivate americans with a palate for great sushi. i think it's time for ramen to have it's day in the US.

[E Eto]

Unfortunately, I don't think you'll find ramen of the quality you had in Japan here in the US. I think there are too many health department regulations that work against ramen (as well as other Japanese places). For example, the cold tamago, or the chashu, are case in point. Because all cooked foods not immediately served need to be stored in cold temperatures (as opposed to being held at room temperature), it'll result in the kind of ramen you had. They would either have to reheat the items before placing them in the ramen (which might be considered a waste of time/labor) or just plop the cold stuff into the hot broth. I think the more thoughtful places will do just that to ensure a better product, but it becomes easier to detect what shortcuts are being taken.

While my experiences at the downtown Daikokuya haven't been that bad, it's hard to feel really good about it in comparison to the ramen that's available in Japan, and it's easy to fall into the "it can't be that difficult to make good ramen in the US" thinking. If you've ever tried to make ramen, you'll realize how difficult it is to make a really consistent recipe for broth or find a good purveyor of noodles, without having to make it yourself. For the amount of labor involved to ensure a really good product, and for what is supposed to be a fast food, the profit margin is tiny. Being successful at making ramen depends on it being a volume business, and if it isn't, you'll quickly see all kinds of shortcuts taken. Even in Japan, ramen shop owners are among the most overstressed professions, with some of the least healthy people, as revealed in a recent survey. It makes sense that the better ramen places are large chains, like Santouka, who have made their products with precision. You're seeing this now in NYC with other chains moving in, which is likely to happen in LA at some point, I imagine. I'd like to be proven wrong. And I think it takes people like the guy at Asa (I haven't been, but have read Rameniac's posts about the place) who are really dedicated to making a better ramen, a ramen otaku if you will, to find some success with it. But if the crowds don't come, it's likely to be a short-term project since it is, after all, a business. The crowds at Daikokuya seem to indicate that they've found a formula that fit with the locals' tastes, a successful formula, but it doesn't mean it's that good.

[exilekiss]

Hey E Eto,

Nice to see you on the LA Boards. (^_^) (Thanks again for your help in Japan. :)

Great points, and don't get me wrong; I definitely appreciate the love and labor that Ramen makers put into their product. That's exactly why I was so blown away with Rokurinsha and Menya Kissou (and even the Kabuki-cho Ajisen). There was dedication, excellence and a true love of making Ramen in those places.

I think what's disappointing is that even with a high volume of customers (so it ensures a high turnover rate, more profits, and possibly fresher ingredients (since they are going through so many bowls of Ramen per day)), Shin Sen Gumi Ramen (Fountain Valley) and Daikokuya (Costa Mesa especially), serve mediocre ingredients. Both places' Chashu is just *old* (you're right, probably refrigerated and mass/batch-cooked a few days earlier and they just slice off amounts they need and refrigerate again); it's astounding how BAD it is compared to places in Tokyo (and these are small little mom-and-pop restaurants).

And as another case in point, even the San Gabriel Valley's Duck's Japanese restaurant serves better, fresher Chashu with their Ramen (and they aren't even a specialist) than Daikokuya and Shin Sen Gumi.

Ultimately, of course, it's about profit margins and finding something that works and sells. I just hope there's more dedicated Ramen masters / shops that want to truly bring a quality product to LA (more about love and dedication than anything else, IMHO). :)

[E Eto]

I just reread my late night rambling, and I think I was unclear on some points. My point is that independent ramen makers in the US faces greater structural impediments, and that it is more likely that a large chain will survive economically in these conditions.

In Japan, it's a different story. Independent ramen makers are more likely to make a better product because 1. the better ramen makers are a bit fanatic, and 2. the ramen eating public are also a bit fanatic. Add to that the access to better ingredients, and a relatively educated palate of the ramen eating public, among many other factors (like less draconian health regulations, greater volume of eaters), you have the perfect conditions that allow an industry to thrive.

[jotfoodie]

I have never liked Daikokuya in Little Tokyo. I went there when J. Gold recommended the place that served pork broth with their ramen. I was not only disappointed but have started having second thoughts on a lot of Mr. Gold's reviews. I had excellent pork broth ramen while in Japan, and Daikokuya does not even come close. I am not surprised that their new location was not good either. Thank you for the review.

[bulavinaka]

I agree on your take to a certain degree with Jonathan Gold. Like many of us, he has his strengths and weaknesses when it comes to cuisines and tastes. It's just that he lives food with a great passion that few of us can match and of course, he didn't get a Pulitzer for nothing. He is by far one of the most eloquent and poetic storytellers of the food experience. One time years back while hearing his take on Din Tai Fung's XLBs on, "Good Food," on KCRW, I sat in my car motionless with one ear cocked toward a speaker. I was totally captivated listening to some guy explaining the ins and outs of soup dumplings with such lucidness, so much so that I didn't even realize that I was now late to my dentist appointment whose office was just 10 steps away from my car... After his segment ended, I rushed into the office and the receptionist commented, "you're a little late but that's okay." I said, "Blame it on the dumplings..." She must have thought I was wacko...

[Akitist]

Sorry to hear that. Maybe they'll get their act together in the near future. I've found the Little Tokyo shop's ramen good, but not great. Love the vibe in the room, though. Need to disagree on the Shin Sen Gumi noodles, which Mmme. Akitist (raised in Kumamoto) and I both disliked.

[exilekiss]

Hi Akitist,

Hm? I think you misunderstood my sentence in the review. I only used Shin Sen Gumi as an example of the *thin* Hakata-style noodles. I never said SSG was good. (^_~)

Having hung out in Japan for 2 weeks straight and sampled some of their best, Shin Sen Gumi (and especially Daikokuya) don't even come close. I agree with you. :)

[Akitist]

I guess I read something into what you wrote that wasn't there. My bad. I seem to have a preference for the fat, chewy noodles that isn't shared by many.

[exilekiss]

Hey Akitist,

No worries. :) I also can enjoy the thicker Ramen noodles, but only when it's thicker and has more bite to them for a true stylistic / culinary point-of-view, not because it was a cheap manufactured noodle or badly undercooked.

Next time you're in Tokyo, check out Rokurinsha. AMAZING thicker Ramen noodle (handmade) goodness. (^_^) (You can see my review of it on the Japan board or on my blog.)

[Akitist]

Thanks for the recommendation. Tokyo isn't normally a destination spot for us (actually my wife goes to Japan a lot more than I do).

If you're ever in Odate City (Akita prefecture) try the rice curry at the municipal bus station resto. Curry good, rice mind-blowing.